Local Runner Raising Funds for Youth Center
Julie Johnson, a personal trainer in Hyannis, is running in the Los Angeles Marathon Sunday, March 7 to raise funds for the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation. This will be the fourth marathon in eight years for Ms. Johnson, who has previously competed to raise awareness of and money to help fight leukemia and cancer. A mother of two middle school students, Ms. Johnson says this marathon “is for the kids,” an effort to support the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation’s building fund to give Barnstable’s young people “a place to go”. Johnson has already collected more than $500.00 in pledges and continues to accept donations. A former all Star Cross Country runner at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, Johnson has been running more than forty miles a week to train for the event. Her goal is to finish the marathon in under 3-1/2 hours.
Individuals wishing to make a pledge for the Youth Center in honor of Ms. Johnson’s Marathon effort should call 617-335-6908 or 508-775-6769.
In partnership with the Town of Barnstable, the Hyannis Youth and Community Center Foundation has launched a capital campaign to raise the $14 million needed to build the Center. The Center will be built with a combination of Federal and private foundation grants, individual and corporate philanthropy, and bonds, which will be repaid from revenues. The operating budget of the facility will also be paid for out of revenues. Fundraising to date has generated $10.36 million of the $14 million projected cost. There are no plans for Town funds to be diverted to this project from other critical needs such as schools, roads and public safety.
This state of the art facility will provide much needed recreational and community services to the youth and residents of the Town of Barnstable. Design plans will include a youth center, gymnasium, two full size ice rinks, and all-purpose community meeting rooms. The facility will be constructed where the Kennedy Memorial Skating Rink currently stands, to better serve the large number of families with a high need for youth-related services in the immediate neighborhood. Financial status will not be a barrier to participation at the Center.
Tax deductible donations should be made payable to the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 1604, Hyannis, MA 02601. For more information, call (508)775-6769.